


Double

by SpiralSpace



Series: Binary Star [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra who? Shadow Weaver who?, Cloudwatching, Drug Use, Imprisonment, Multi, Name Changes, Other, because Glimmer's self loathing is just THAT strong, but still it probably counts, full respect to two excellent villains but we don't need them, nonbinary Glimmer, poly Best Friends Squad, well actually a character just thinks there's drug use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 13:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20874833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiralSpace/pseuds/SpiralSpace
Summary: This is basically DLC / Bonus Content for Twice. It's chronological and takes place strictly after Twice, but it's a series of vignettes in the "double the Glimmer" au for people that want more of it.





	Double

“Why are the stairs to Bright Moon so high?” Adora groaned.

“Because the architect had wings,” Glimmer said, just as tiredly. Even Bow wasn’t enthusiastic about scaling the front steps of the palace, scratched and battered as they all were from their most recent adventure.

“I suppose really we’re lucky there’s any stairs at all,” Princess Glimmer offered hesitantly.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” Adora asked. “You can just teleport. It’s Bow and I who are actually stuck legging it.”

Commander Glimmer snapped her fingers. “Right, I wasn’t even thinking. We’ve all earned it, I’ll just magic us up there. Everyone ready?”

“Yeah,” Adora and Bow said.

“NO!” Princess Glimmer yelped. The others looked at her. Bow and Adora with worry, but she could see the gears turning in Commander Glimmer’s head. Her eyes widened.

“You haven’t been…”

“No, no, nooo I’m fine. I just kinda want to take in the view on the way up,” she said unconvincingly. “You guys go on ahead.”

Commander Glimmer gave her a look. “Glimmer, can we talk about this? Like, later, at least?”

Princess Glimmer sighed. “Usual place?”

“Yeah. I think there’s a maintenance stairway up behind the kitchens...”

“I know there is.”

“Okay.” Glimmer took Bow and Adora’s hands before either of them could give voice to the concern on their faces. They vanished.

-

“You haven’t been teleporting,” Commander Glimmer said, without accusation. The precipece was to her left, Glimmer’s right. Between them, the sky was painted in every colour it could think of. Moonsets over Brightmoon were always spectacular, the sky always tried extra hard here in particular.

“I have. I dropped that branch on Catra, remember?”

“You haven’t been teleporting -yourself-,” she amended.

“I haven’t been teleporting myself or anyone else for the last three months.”

“Why.”

“You know why.”

“I know why. But WHY? What if you got hurt today because you wouldn’t use your powers?”

“I would if I had to. And you know what? It’s actually pretty easy not to if you just plan ahead. We’re gotten REALLY used to having magic there to bail us out and it shows.”

Commander Glimmer didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Hey, how do YOU do it?” Princess Glimmer continued. “How do you teleport and not worry that you’re going to make another one of us again?”

“I just think; if it happens again, we’ll deal with it, right? We’ll cross the bridge when it comes.”

“Clone.”

“How does saying any of that make me the clone?” 

“Because you’re trying to slip that pro-clone, ‘it’ll just work out, don’t worry about the fact that we outnumber you now,’ rhetoric by me. I see your game, evil clone, don’t think I don’t.”

“Look, my point is, if it happens, we can find a way to survive it. And this time we won’t be doing it alone.”

“Yeah, I guess we will have each other. Like we did when mom got herself trapped in a portal forever.”

“Or when we came out together!”

The last rays of the day moon split over the hills west of the palace. Princess Glimmer watched them slip away. Only the washed out aftermath of the moon's disappearance remained.

“That one doesn’t count. I mean, it’s not like we had a choice. If one of us had just up and said ‘hey I’m nonbinary’, it would have been up for the other one too.”

“That’s not true at all though. Just because one of us is nonbinary doesn’t mean both of us have to be. We’re different people...”

“Are we, though?”

“Oh. My god. Please tell me you’re joking, Glimmer.”

-

“Okay Adora, what’s going on???” Princess Glimmer pointed a finger at the Best Friend Squad's tallest member accusingly.

“Wh-what do you mean, Glimmer?”

“You’ve been acting really weird today.” She pouted. “Bow and I are here to support you, but we can’t do that if you keep us in the dark, so spill it.”

Adora closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, she looked even more nervous. “Glimmer, can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“Hypothetically, would you be interested in going on a date? With me? Maybe?”

Princess Glimmer’s heart fluttered. She quickly swept a hand through her hair and tried to look suave before she let herself turn around to face Adora. “Yes, I do think I’d be very interested in that.” She grinned. “Hypothetically. Why do you ask???”

“Well, I ask because, what if I was also dating Commander Glimmer? Would you still be interested? You know, hypothetically?”

“I mean, that would depend how she felt about it, obviously…”

“She says she’d be okay with it.”

Glimmer’s eyes widened. “You already asked her…”

Adora looked even more nervous. “I thought that if I asked you both at the same time it would look too much like I thought you were the same person.”

“But why did you ask HER before ME?” she replied, her voice noticeably raised.

Adora closed her eyes again, breathed in and out unsteadily. When she opened them, she met Glimmer’s gaze directly. “You’re right, it was rude of me to spring this on you. I’m sorry.”

-

“AAAAAUGH, I -REALLY- screwed everything up, didn’t I, Bow?” Glimmer dropped any pretense of being in the royal gardens beyond spying on Adora and Other Glimmer, and leaning far forward on her bench to watch the two of them. Adora was carrying Glimmer around on her shoulders in her She-Ra form. They were having too good of a time to notice her. “They are just so disgustingly CUTE together,” she continued, before Bow could respond. He wasn’t spying on anyone, instead he was just working through the most recent issue of Makers’ Monthly. “Like, for some reason I thought Adora would be just the worst at romantic stuff, but she’s really knocking it out of the park.”

“Yeah, it’s taken a lot of coaching,” Bow said, “But I’m really proud of how well she’s doing.”

“You’ve been training her this whole time?! Traitor.” Glimmer grinned at Bow, but it crumpled as soon she looked back at the young couple on the other side of the courtyard. She sighed heavily. “I just feel like I’ve made the absolute worst mistake of my life.”

Bow frowned. “Glimmer, if you aren’t comfortable in a plural relationship, then not getting into one is the only good move.”

“It’s not that, though! Well, it’s kind of is in a way, but it’s a lot bigger than that, really. Remember last year when you went to the princess prom with Perfuma and I completely flipped my shit because I was afraid you were going to replace me? Whenever I see you guys with Other Glimmer, it’s like that only a million times worse because you actually, definitely could replace me with her, one hundred percent. But Adora literally did the opposite of that. She wanted me! She said that, straight up, to my face! So I’m literally just shooting myself in the foot. And why!? I’m going to go over there, and tell her I made the wrong choice.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” Glimmer rocked forward, about to get up off the bench. She paused. “Wait, do you think it would be better to do it while Other Glimmer is there, or do you think it would be more polite to ask later when she’s alone?”

“I have no idea, but for humanitarian reasons I’m going to suggest the plan that doesn’t involve you hiding in your room for three to five business days while you figure out the perfect way to hold a five minute conversation.” He gave her a nudge on the shoulder, and a wink. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

-

“Alright everyone, I have an announcement to make!” Princess Glimmer yelled, a bit punchily, the culprit in a red solo cup that was still very firmly in her grasp. She looked out over the assembled crowd. It wasn’t the hugest, really, she knew most of the people here, but not all. Perfuma’s new and unauthorized yearly Rebel Princess Prom wasn’t actually exclusive to rebel princesses. The debacle at the last official princess prom had caused quite a disruption in the social fabric of the broader princess community, or so Glimmer was told, and Perfuma seemed absolutely convinced that the recruiting potential of a really good party was the most powerful weapon the Rebellion currently had access to. And so there were a scattering of curious strangers about, plus some other people because Perfuma had replaced the plus one with, like, a plus ten to pad out the numbers. As a consequence of THAT, there were a few looks of moderate to extreme confusion from people standing near her double, out on the dance floor. And also confusion from the Glimmer herself. Their secret had been pretty thoroughly blown the moment ‘other her’ had tagged along on a rescue mission to rescue HERSELF (oops), but maybe the rumours hadn’t reached as far as she’d thought. Or maybe they were just too confusing even for the people they did reach.

She got up on a stool next to the buffet table, and took a moment to zero in on Glimmer’s face again. This was a big announcement, she was giving up a lot of ground to Glimmer here, but if she’d gotten it just right, she was also about to experience a great victory. She’d been slightly dreading the actual moment all night, but now that she was here she was actually really excited. It was entirely conceivable that the unidentified, potentially herbal, intoxicant in the punch was to blame. She gestured, with her beverage hand, in Other Glimmer’s direction. “For those of you who don’t know me, I am Glimmer’s good friend, Nova! (and that was the announcement, by the way.)” 

There it was! That brief moment of jealousy, of ‘oh my god that’s the coolest name why can’t I be Nova?’ Your frikken move, Glimmer. “And for those of you who do know me,” Nova continued tipsily, “Congratulations! I have heard your complaints, even though you mostly said them behind my back because I have ears everywhere and you should always remember that, and I have accommodated them. It is no longer super confusing to talk about me in literally every context. You’re welcome, and have a great night!” She got down off the stool, managing not to fall at all as she did so. Mostly people went back to their conversations.

She was tackled from behind, Adora wrapping her in a tight hug before she could react. “Nice to meet you, Nova,” she said, snuggling her face up against her partner’s ear.

Bow was there too. “Nova, eh? Has a nice ring to it. It sounds kind of familiar?”

“Your dads said it was the First Ones word for ‘Bright Light’. Well, one of the words, anyway.”

Glimmer appeared next to Bow, in a signature sparkle-burst. “So does this mean you’ve finally accepted that we’re different people?”

“Well, we -are- still basically the same person in most ways,” Nova replied. “Just one person with two names because it got confusing.”

“No we aren’t.”

“Yes we are.”

“No we aren’t.”

“Yes, we are.”

Bow and Adora rolled their eyes at each other.

-

“You summoned me, Lord Hordak?”

“Yes, Intelligence Coordinator Skarr, I did. I have questions about a certain princess.” He pulled up a holographic recording of a recent battle. With a few deft hand motions, he zoomed in on Nova’s face. “Tell me what you know about her.”

“Ah yes, princess Glimmer. It was her who stepped into the power vacuum left by Queen Angella’s mysterious death. While centralization of power within the alliance has been significantly hampered by her removal, princess Glimmer is the closest thing the rebellion has to a leader at the moment. It is likely not long until she curries enough power to arrange her formal coronation as Bright Moon’s monarch, if she hasn’t already.” He leafed several pages deeper into the file on his clipboard. “Her physical threat level is relatively low for a princess, with her magical abilities limited to relocating herself or others short distances, and creating distracting lights. She has, likely as a direct consequence, developed a talent for CQC that would put some of our more sluggish recruits to shame. She is the highest-priority target remaining in the Princess Alliance, and successful completion of her corresponding training simulation, P-G-03, is a requisite for all troops in the current cohort. Her greatest weakness, beyond her dependence on the Moonstone, is assessed to be her reckless nature.”

Hordak huffed. “And? Is that all???”

Sweat beaded on Skarr’s brow. “Is there something in particular your grace wishes to know more about?”

Hordak swatted angrily at the hologram, sending it spinning wildly. He stopped it with a single finger, enlarging another part of the picture from the same moment, an image of Glimmer.  
“DO WE KNOW. WHY THERE ARE TWO OF HER????”

“N-No, Sir. We do not…”

Hordak shook his head in disgust. He waved his hand to dismiss the intelligence operative. “Bring this ‘Glimmer’ to me. -Both- of her.” 

“Yes, Lord Hordak.”

-

Hordak leaned in close, the better to smirk at the bound princess. “Welcome back to the Fright Zone, princess Glimmer. Or I suppose that should really be queen Glimmer now, shouldn’t it?”

“It’s Nova. Princess Nova.”

“I care not, prisoner. Where is it?”

“Where is what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! You found something.” He gestured at her double, restrained beside her, who scowled back at him. “You found First Ones cloning tech, and the proof is right here in this room. So where is it? Tell me and I promise your death will be painless.”

Nova stared at him.

“Very well. I don’t NEED First Ones cloning tech to crush your puny rebellion; it’s been crumbling for decades now. It makes no difference, and the sooner you accept that the sooner your suffering will end.” He paced to the door. “We’ll be seeing each other again soon, prisoner. Rest well.” The sneer on his face was as wide as it was red, which was to say; very. 

“What a pompous jerk.” After a minute, Glimmer grunted, tugging on the rope that bound her hands. It came undone almost immediately. “Wow, that scorpion lady is really bad at knots.”

“Probably not her fault, she’s got those big claws, they must make it difficult,” Nova said, as Glimmer untied her as well. “You got any power left?”

Glimmer thrust her hands out, brow furrowing in concentration. The barest waft of sparkles came out. “Nope. Tapped out.”

“Me too.”

“Guess we have to do this the old fashioned way.” Glimmer picked up a chair, raised it over her head, and took a running start at battering down the door.

“Wait!” Nova yelled, as loudly as she dared. “What if there are guards nearby? They’ll hear.”

Glimmer reluctantly put down the chair. “Well it’s not like we can just wait around. It’s a risk we'll just have to take, I mean what other choice do we have?”

“No, mom was right, we can’t keep just rushing in all the time!”

“MOM was RIGHT? How can you say that, seriously? You’re talking about the woman who sat on her hands and did nothing while Etheria burned!”

“Yeah, she did, but we’re so scared of being her that we’ll do the first thing that comes to mind, even if it’s a TERRIBLE PLAN. Please, just give me a moment to think.”

“We might not have a moment, somebody could walk in any time now. And the sooner we go, the more of a head start we have before they find out we’re missing.”

“But we don’t even know where we’re going… wait, that’s it. I’ve got something!”

Glimmer put the chair down again. The motion was even more begrudging this time, but eventually all four legs rested on the ground. “What?”

“Remember the last time I was captured? Adora and I broke out of the Black Garnet chamber, so I know the way out from there. If we can get that far, we’ll at least know where we are.”

“But we don’t know where the Black Garnet chamber is either,” Glimmer observed.

“I do! Well, I think I do. You’re not going to believe me, but I can feel it.”

“You can feel it?”

“Like the Moonstone, but fainter. I didn’t even notice it until we got here. I think it’s because Shadow Weaver used it on me the last time.”

“So? Where is it?”

“It’s close. It’s… this way.” She walked towards a wall. “Definitely this way.” She spotted a large grate, high up near the ceiling. “Find me something that can undo these screws.”

-

The journey through the vents was alarmingly noisy, but ultimately uneventful... strike that, Nova meant that nothing important happened. After just a few intersections, Nova signaled for Glimmer to stop, and looked down through the ceiling grate. Zero horde soldiers, one big ol’ ominous glowing red crystal. Perfect. They carefully dropped down.

The room was eerily abandoned. There were no lights other than Black Garnet itself. It shone dimly off of Shadow Weaver’s forsaken devices, and Entrapta’s equally orphaned machines. The two of them shivered.

“Okay, step one down. Now lead on, Nova,” Glimmer commanded. “Nova?”

Nova wasn’t listening. She was just staring at the Garnet. Mesmerized. She reached out her hand. Then they were gone.

*~*-*-*~*

The open sky stretched either above or below Glimmer, miles deep and bluer than her mind could fully comprehend after her stint in the Fright zone. Perhaps it was a blue more intense than ~anyone~ could ever truly see, she mused. There was just something about the sky... Glimmer made the conscious decision to assume that she was not dead. She looked around, without finding the energy to get up off the ground. The Moonstone just hovered there, like always. It drifted gently in a slow orbit, opposite what was unmistakably the Black Garnet.

“What happened?” Glimmer asked.

“I saw it,” Nova replied hollowly. “I saw all of it. Every runestone. Every princess. They’re all connected.”

“And then what.”

Nova sat up. She shrugged. “And then we were here.”

Glimmer breathed out. “So we got lucky. Somehow, we got really lucky.” She looked up at the floating runestones. “Also that thing’s still freaky in daylight. Think it’s gonna damage the Moonstone?” Glimmer put her hands on the Moonstone. “You coming?” she asked, when Nova just stood there.

“Nah,” Nova replied. She watched as little flashes of crimson lightning danced across her fingers. “Something tells me it’s not gonna be too happy with me after that.” She took a step towards the Black Garnet.

“Wait!” Glimmer yelled.

Nova stopped. “Yeah?”

“Were you going to touch the thing that just launched us halfway around the world the last time you touched it again?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got another feeling? And it worked out well the first time?”

“Weren’t you _just_ yelling at me for doing things without thinking?” Glimmer asked. 

Nova just stood there tiredly and looked at her.

“Okay, fine, you can touch the weird evil rock.”

Nova smiled, and touched the weird evil rock. 

She tried to draw on it the same way that she would the Moonstone, and to her partial astonishment it worked. It felt different, though. Like, entirely different. It didn’t hurt, as her first encounter with the Black Garnet had, but it definitely wasn’t like joining with the Moon Stone.

And how could it be? The Moonstone had been a part of her for as long as she could remember, but when she’d just topped up it felt a bit like she became it entirely. It filled her, it made her feel like she could fly. And this was decidedly not the Moonstone. It felt heavier, but more permanent, more decisive? Normally by now she’d want to sprint somewhere but now she kind of wanted to demolish a wall just to prove she could. It was like she was a different person. A new person. Herself. The person she’d already become. A thundercloud waiting to burst.

Princess Nova.

-

“Hey Nova, can I ask you something?” 

“Sure, what?”

“You know how Adora’s birthday is coming up?”

“Yeah…”

“I was thinking maybe our gift could be both of us. I mean, she’s probably thought about it at some point.”

“Both of us? You mean we could get her something -from- both of us?”

“No, like, both of us at the same time, you know, like…” Glimmer tried to use a series of difficult-to-decipher hand gestures to get her point across. “If that’s something you’d be comfortable with, I mean.”

“Oh. Oooooooooh. Um, I really wouldn’t have any idea until I tried it. Are you even sure she’d want that?”

“Okay, so I totally sent Bow to kind of scout out the idea with her ahead of time…”

“Let me guess, he immediately blew his cover.”

“I mean, he didn’t say anything either way so I'm just going to assume he did, yeah. But according to him she at least somewhat into it.”

“You know what? Sure. It sounds like fun so I’m giving it a shot. Fair warning though, I am also getting her an actual gift.”

“Cool cool cool, can I borrow some of your clothes then? It’d be neat if we matched.” Nova had redone her entire wardrobe after the Black Garnet. Purples for reds and sporty for dramatic. She was a lot more imposing now, or so Adora said. Though Nova swore there was always the faintest smirk when she did… She tried not to think about it.

“It wouldn’t fit, would it?”

“Oh, right.” Glimmer was really toned now, with all the extra time she was putting into her martial arts. Nova on the other hand had done no such thing and hadn’t slimmed down at all. She preferred to focus on her magic. Glimmer grinned. “We’re really not as good at this as we used to be. I never thought I’d be considering how best to go goth.”

“It’s not goth, it’s avant-garde. Don’t worry, I’ve still got my old outfits,” Nova said. “One classic Glimmer look coming right up.”

-

“**You’re dating Bow?!**"

Glimmer looked away from her conversation partner to track the muted crackle of thunder which split the air after Nova’s statement. She glanced around, trying to pinpoint the source, but the lingering clouds on the horizon were simply doing that; lingering. Most likely it had been Bright Moon’s newest runestone. It could be astonishingly overprotective sometimes… “That’s what I just said, yeah,” she replied.

“No.”

“Excellent point, but have you considered; yes? Or how about ‘Okay Glimmer, I respect Bow’s right to make his own choices, as well as your own, thanks for the heads up’?” Her voice took on a kind of condescending note by the end.

“But I don’t like Bow like that!” Nova pouted. The purplish clouds behind her mirrored her expression.

The skies around Bright Moon always seemed to be occupied by at least a few clouds these days, but they were truly beautiful clouds. Or Nova thought so anyway. And hey, it’s not like there was any shortage of blue either, so what were people complaining about? Adora watched the clouds, avoiding the conversation. Their mutual girlfriend had been curious what they did on the roof, and had asked to come up with them this once, but likely hadn’t realized how acrimonious the two of them tended to get up here.

“Good thing nobody’s making -you- go out with him then,” Glimmer responded.

“Auuuugh, this is so awkward, now he’s going to know what I look like naked!”

“I mean, wouldn’t that be a problem for ordinary identical twins too?” Adora mused. “Not saying it isn’t a problem, but you could actually talk to other people who have dealt with this before, couldn’t you?”

“There literally isn’t a problem except for her,” Glimmer muttered angrily.

Nova shook her head. “No, I refuse to be consoled, it’s the end of the world!”

"..."

"..."

Nova suddenly clutched Glimmer's arm. "Wait! Can you make him shave off that hideous mustache now?"

Glimmer shook her head. "You know I can't, Nova. We were doomed from the moment Sea Hawk said it looked handsome."

-

Nova looked up into the endless, brilliant, star studded sky. “You know, I think it might have been worth it.” She winced. “I shouldn’t say that, should I? We lost so many people. If I ever see another one of those grey-skinned, pointy-eared creeps again it’ll be too soon. But it’s just…”

“We did lose so many,” Glimmer said glumy. “Well, I did. I know what you mean though. It just feels right to have them up there. Or us down here. We’re the ones who moved, right?” She blinked groggily. The Horde Prime invasion had been rough on both of them, but Glimmer had gotten the worst of it. 

Nova meanwhile had spent most of the tribulation conjuring storms from as safe of a distance as she could manage, which was just a tiny bit less tiring than punching them out. She gazed up at the stars in wonder. “There’s just so many. It’s like, you’d think at some point someone would have put their foot down, right? Like, this is clearly getting out of hand, time to reel it back a little.” She paused, so Glimmer could laugh in her head probably. “You know, they’re not like I expected. I guess I thought they’d all just be stars but they’re all a little bit different from each other. And there are people on them too? They must all be different too. I might be losing it but I swear that every single one of those stars is even a different colour, just a little. Just every version of every possible thing, forever and ever. Are you seeing that or is it just me?”

Glimmer shrugged. “Maybe everyone we lost is up there somewhere. Heck, maybe even mom is. It just keeps going, right? They’ve gotta be out there somewhere.” She thought of something that actually did make her laugh, the quietest little bark in between breaths. Nova glanced across at her. “You know, it’s funny really," she said. "We were so alone all this time, but we didn’t even realize it until we weren’t any more.”

Nova looked over at her more thoughtfully. “Hey, Glimmer?” she asked.

“What?”

Nova rested her hand on top of Glimmer’s. “I’m glad I met you.”

Glimmer’s breath stopped. It was like she’d been struck and a great weight had been lifted from her at the same time. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She leaned against Nova’s shoulder. 

“I am too,” she said, barely daring to whisper it.

Together, in just that way, under the light of the stars, the two princesses drifted into a well-deserved nap. The million pinpricks of light gleaming above seemed willing to claim responsibility for the miracle.


End file.
